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YEAH Training
I spent part of the day Saturday at a resort for training for this YEAH program I am the advisor for. I got to bring my 8 students with me and Anna, the third grade teacher came along as well. My students did excellent. I was SO proud of them! They had some really really good ideas for how to improve the health and fitness in our school. And they got pretty excited about the project. Not to mention they fed us some amazing food and gave us some really good information. It was one of the first days I can say I truly am starting to love my job. Yes, I have always liked it, but Saturday was just a cool opportunity to see some of my students in a different environment and to get to do something a little more fun! As much as I enjoy planning lessons and writing tests, I think this project will be a nice break and give me a chance to really mentor and work with some of my students in a more one-on-one basis. Plus it will benefit the school as a whole because being healthy is always a good thing!
The training was in Garapan which is a more touristy part of Saipan so Anna and I spend the rest of the afternoon acting like tourists:) It was so fun!!! We took pictures, bought souvenirs, and got ice cream at McDonald’s. (I realize we spent all morning learning about health, but both of us run enough that we could justify it) I love hanging out with her! It is so nice to have someone here to enjoy the island and act like a tourist for the afternoon. 🙂
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Half-Marathon Training..GO!
I have wanted to run one for awhile. I started training before I left for Saipan, but sorta fell off the course in the midst of moving and settling in here. But I have been running almost everyday and have gotten to the point where I can run 4 miles easily and ran 6 the other day. So I found a training program and started yesterday! I don’t necessarily have a specific race in mind, but there are half marathons every other weekend here so it shouldn’t be a problem to find one to run when I am finished with the training. I plan on doing one in early January-they have a winter festival of runs. Which makes me laugh because there is no winter here..although I have heard that by January the rain has stopped and the weather is beautiful. Sunny, not so hot, and perfect I have been told. Seems like a good time to run my first half! And Saipan just seems like the perfect place to do it..so much of this experience has been about getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things..why not tackle 13.1 miles? 🙂
So here goes the beginning of many weeks of running…good thing the scenery is so beautiful!:)You May Also Like
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YEAH
Never a dull moment in my life-even when I move to the other side of the world on a small island, I can always find plenty to do! So I have been named supervisor for a project called YEAH-Youth Engaging in Advancing Health. I will be in charge of my school in promoting healthy activity and eating. The project is being funded by the Public School System and I am pretty excited about it. I have gathered myself a little team of 10 5th and 6th graders to help me and we will be working all year on this. First order of business, I get to go to training! I will be spending my Saturday at a resort eating and learning all about this project. It will be fun to meet some more people and get some tools to help my students and school. I have to admit I am pretty excited. I think it will be a very fun project to work on!
I will probably keep you updated on it because talking about the amazing weather, the beach, and the island is probably boring you all..hee hee!So off I go to get SCS healthy, active, and happy:)You May Also Like
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This is how they will know you are My disciples..
..if you have love one for another. John 13:35.
Love.We hear so much about it. and lately, I have been thinking about it a lot. Perhaps because I am falling in love, but I think more than that because God has been challenging me in the way I think about love. The message in church this morning was on love and unity within the body of Christ. I have been reading several books on love and forgiveness. I have been studying the teachings of Christ. It all leads me to this question..where is the love? (insert Black Eyed Peas song)But seriously, where is the love within the body of Christ? No, not the self-serving, self-deserving, holier-than-thou love that only loves the people that are easy to love. But the love that causes people to stop and ask questions? The love that feeds the hungry and clothes the naked. The love that forgives our enemies and prays for them. The love that accepts everyone exactly where they are-gay, free, slave, black, white, liberal, republican-and then loves them into a relationship with our Savior. The love that looks like Christ. The love that looks into all of humanity eyes and sees Christ. The kind of love that takes courage because it is different. God is continually challenging me in this-how can I increase my love for those around me? and He is giving me some very good opportunities to decided whether I am going to take the hard road and love or take the easy road and simply hang out with my “group”. You see, that’s how the world is supposed to be able to pick out the followers of Christ-by their love. Not by their stands on the military, the government, abortion, or homosexuality. Not by their often legalistic, self-rightous, judgmental attitude. They should be able to pick us out of a crowd because of our love.So that is my challenge. I am going to spend the next several months really digging into what love looks like and figuring out how to change my life so that I will be known by that. God is stirring up my heart and thoughts so I am just going to run with it. I mean, what have I got to lose?You May Also Like
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Reality check
I live here.I was sitting on a ferry today heading to snorkel on a small island called Managaha when it just hit me. I live here. I am not visiting. I am not passing through. I am not a tourist (even though sometimes I act like one!). I actually live here. I have an address, an apartment, friends, a church, and a job. And yet everyday, I wake up to the smell of the ocean, spend my days teaching students from all over the world, and my weekends exploring the beauty of God’s creation. Pictures just don’t do it justice. It is absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever been. I am still in awe of the different blues in the ocean, how green the plants are, the beautiful flowers, the fish that come in every shape, color, and size you can imagine, and the amazing variety of people that call Saipan home. I absolutely love it. After a kinda rough week, it was just an awesome reminder that this is where I am supposed to be. Looking out at the beauty both above and below the water, I realized that this is not an opportunity that everyone gets nor that comes up everyday so I am going to enjoy it and live life to the fullest while I am here. I am going to throw myself into relationships and experiences and soak up the sun every chance I get. And as I sit in my bed and get ready to sleep, I can’t help but be thankful for each day that I am here. -
Just some thoughts..
So today I had three prep hours instead of my normal one. It was so nice because I have not been feeling well. I think I ate something that did not agree with me and needless to say the past 24 hours have been rough. I went home yesterday and slept for a little while, ate, and went back to sleep at around 9. Today has been much better and not having to teach two of my classes was a blessing from God. I was able to get a lot done and almost have all my planning done for next week. Which doesn’t seem to matter much because I rarely get done what I think I will. I try very hard, but sometimes I am finding that it is better to go with my students than try to cram in whatever lesson I wanted to. I can’t do this all the time, but sometimes it ends up much better than I had planned. I am slowly starting to get a handle on this teaching thing, it’s not easy. But I like it most days. 🙂
On a side note, being a teacher on a small island has given me lots of time to think. and I am pretty sure I have come up with what I think is the next step. I am still praying because it is early in my time here. Church is Sunday was on using your spiritual gifts to their maximum and it was exactly the reminder/message I needed. So when the time is right, I will reveal to you the plan! Until then stay posted for more from Saipan..You May Also Like
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My Dad Is An Ironman!
(You get two today! and a promise I will pick up the blog pace!)
My dad completed his first ever Ironman today! Oh how I wish I could have been there, but thanks to modern technology I was able to follow him the whole race and sorta see him cross the finish line. I can’t not explain you how nervous I was. My dad has been talking about this for years and been actually training for the past year. It all came down to this. I knew that short of something medically going wrong, he would finish, but man, my nerves were all a tangled mess and I watched intently on the little blue arrow that was my dad travel across the 140.6 mile course. As soon as I knew he crossed the finish line, there was this overwhelming sense of relief and pride that came over me. I have always thought my dad could do anything. He has always been my hero-and today he did something that not a whole lot of people can say they have done. Complete an Ironman in under 14 hours!!! Oh man, the cheers ran high-thank goodness he finished over my lunch or my students might have thought I went crazy! So I can officially say my dad is an Ironman..and I am getting a shirt that says that:) and while I am so sad I missed out on the actual event, I know that he knew how much I was cheering for him and that Saipan is where I am supposed to be. Plus, they took lots of pictures and I got a review of it from him just over an hour after the race!I love you dad! Way to go! -
"You will gain 25 pounds in Saipan"
This was one of the first things that was told to me upon arrival to this island. I just laughed it off thinking, “No way.” However, this is the 3rd weekend in a row we have been invited to multiple cookouts. You see, in Saipan, people get together every weekend and have potlucks. Everyone brings something and you get together. You don’t even have to have a reason! I love it because I think it is such a beautiful picture of community. You see these cookouts always have the most wide array of people-locals, young, old, people from near and far, lawyers, teachers, housewives-you name it and you can probably find it at a Saipan BBQ. Which also means that there is ALWAYS an amazing amount of delicious food. Hence why I believe it is not entirely unlikely that one might gain 25 pounds. Just about everything revolves around eating. But as I think about it, I wish it was more like this back home. Why do we have to wait for holidays like Labor Day or birthdays to get together with friends? Can we not just enjoy eating a meal together just for the sake of sharing and fellowship? It’s the same way even during the week with my friend Anna. We eat together almost every night and while, food is not cheap here, we have just come up with a system that ensures that neither of us feel like we are contributing or spending more. We are able to enjoy each other’s company, save on leftovers, and no one is worse for the wear. I believe that this is a huge part of living in community. Sharing meals. I love this aspect of my life in Saipan. And I love looking around at the people I am sharing the meal with and knowing that there are not many other places where you could find such a random mix of people all enjoying each other’s company and eating each other’s food!
